Search Documents

By P. J. Jorgensen, J. H. Westbrook

The anomalous indentation creep of nonmetallic solids is shown to be due to the presence of adsorbed water. Although a specific mechanism is not proposed, it is suggested that the water may be present in two chemically adsorbed states. DEPENDENCE of the indentation hardness of solids on the time of load application was first studied systematically by Hargreaves1 in a study of lead and certain low-melting alloys. This technique has become known as indentation creep and has been exploited particularly by underwood and by Mulhearn and Tabor3 as well as by others.4°7 For metals good correlations have been found between the time dependence of hardness over several orders of magnitude in the seconds range and creep parameters from conventional tests at the same temperature where creep strains were measured over hundreds or thousands of hours. However, Walker and Demer8 and Mitsche and Onitsch9 observed extensive indentation creep at room temperature (particularly for light loads) in certain minerals and in materials such as lithium fluoride and magnesium oxide for which conventional creep is ordinarily not observable unless the testing temperature is at a very much higher fraction of the melting point. Normal behavior was observed' for metals such as copper, i.e., negligible time-dependent flow during room-temperature indentation. Walker and Demer attempted to find some distinctive difference in the surface deformation markings about indentations in the anomalously behaving materials at short and very long indentation times. No significant differences were observed. Increased duration of loading was found, however, to result in an increase in the length of glide of edge-dislocation loops extending into the interior of the crystal. Jorgensen and Westbrook,10 in a recent study of

Jan 1, 1965

IN THE early evening of October 15, 1954, a large specially designed truck, convoyed by a second smaller one, arrived at Silver Bell, Arizona, completing a ten-hour 110-mile journey from Phoenix. The big truck was driven through gaps left in a previously prepared concrete foundation, the load was jacked up, the large girders that constituted the bed of the truck were pulled away, and the load was then lowered into place on the foundation. A crew of two men, the two truck drivers, finished the job in a little more than an hour. When they were through, a complete and attractive three-bedroom house, prefabricated in Phoenix, was almost ready for occupancy. About all that remained to do was to connect the utilities-water, electricity, plumbing, and gas. The kitchen and bathroom equipment and appointments were superior in every respect, and there was a built-in car port for the automobile of the prospective residents. This family domicile was one of more than one hundred, each averaging about $8,000 in cost, that the American Smelting and Refining Company has provided for its employees engaged in mining and milling 7,500 tons per day of low-grade Porphyry copper ore. Aside from the fact that it is more economical-partly because of the variety of union craftsmen needed to build and equip a house-to do the work in a city 110 miles away, the significant point is the high quality of housing that is provided for what may be called in nostalgic vein the "mining camp" of 1955. Silver Bell is typical of all the Porphyries in this respect though the community is relatively small. At San Manuel

Jan 1, 1957

By G. G. Gunther, C. L. Boeke

THE zinc deleading processes at the Parral and Santa Barbara mills are described separately to provide a basis for comparison. Although the two procedures are fundamentally alike, there are some differences in application to meet specific conditions. The Asarco mill at Parral in the State of Chihuahua is a flotation plant treating 1450 metric tons- per day of complex sulphide copper-lead-zinc ores. In general, the procedure used for selective separation of the minerals into a copper, a lead, and a zinc concentrate follows the usual practice. First, a bulk copper-lead concentrate is floated and then separated into a final copper and a final lead concentrate by the sulphurous acid process. A small tonnage of high grade gravity lead concentrate is tabled from the bulk copper-lead cleaner tailing before it is reground so as to avoid undesirable over-grinding and sliming of this portion of the lead, mineral. Next, a zinc concentrate is floated from the lead rougher tailing and, as described later, is separated into a final lead product and a final zinc concentrate. Finally, the zinc rougher tailing receives a strong scavenger float to remove all recoverable middling values for regrinding, and return to the flotation circuits. The slime is separated from the scavenger flotation product, and only the sand portion goes to the regrind section. The minerals in the separated slime are extremely resistant to all methods of selective separation and pose one of the major problems awaiting solution. Nevertheless, the slime shows a profit when mixed with either the lead or the zinc concentrate, except when metal prices are very low, so it is accepted as a final product for lack of a more profitable method of handling it. In contrast, the minerals in the reground sands of the

Jan 1, 1952

By Paul Weir

DURING the past decade, methods of producing bituminous coal in the State of Illinois, which ranks third in production among the states in which bituminous coal is mined, have undergone great changes. From less than one million tons in 1923, the strip-mine production has gradually increased to a high of 11,725,870 tons in 1937. From a negligible amount prior to 1927, the amount of coal mechanically loaded underground had increased to a high of 28,374,362 tons in 1937. The amount manually loaded in 1937 reached a low of 12,332,023 tons. In this same year, this state ranked first in strip-mine production, also in mechanically loaded production. For this reason a study of the influence of mechanization on location of production in Illinois may be helpful in anticipating what may happen in other producing states. The reason for the changes in methods lies in the differences in costs of production. The Bureau of Research and Statistics of the National Bituminous Coal Commission has made public the following costs of pro-duction by various methods in the State of Illinois (district 10) for the last nine months of 1937: all mines, $1.7602 per ton; strip mines, $1.4319; mechanical loading mines, $1.7457; hand loading mines, $2.1793; all underground mines, $1.8703. These are weighted averages for the entire district. Inasmuch as production in 1937 was reported from 58 counties scattered over two-thirds of the area of the state and from five different seams varying in thickness from less than 3 ft. to as much as 12 ft., it is apparent that the location of production must be influenced by the extent of mechanization possible in the various producing counties.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. A. Mallinger

A series of laboratory tests was conducted to determine the limits of practicability in regulating the weights of various cement slurries. It was found that slurry weights of 12 to 19 lb per gallon could be obtained by adding bentonite to decrease the weight and barytes ore to increase the weight. It was also found that barytes ore was not usable in all cements. LIGHTWEIGHT CEMENT SLURRIES INTRODUCTION During the drilling and completion of oil wells the magnitude of the hydraulic pressures exerted on certain formations is critical. In many cases considerable care must be exercised to prevent drilling mud weights from becoming too high, and in those wells where loss of circulation is a problem, the use of normal weight cement slurries will generally result in lost returns during casing cementing operations. While mud weights can easily be controlled, it is necessary to exercise care in the selection of weight reducing additives for cement slurries in order that slurry weights may be reduced sufficiently to prevent the loss of a large portion of the cement to the thief formations without seriously affecting the setting properties of the cement. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS An extensive search revealed that a large number of materials .that might have been otherwise practicable as a weight reducing additive were not acceptable for use with oil we cements because the imposition of pressure on the slurries caused the additive being tested to be compressed or to absorb water from the slurries, resulting in negligible decrease in the slurry weight. This search for lightweight additives disclosed that bentonite, a material very commonly used for reducing the weight of drilling muds and cements, produced the best results without undue harmful effects on the properties of oil well cements. It was found that there was a limit to the amount of benton-

Jan 1, 1950

By G. G. Gunther, C. L. Boeke

THE zinc deleading processes at the Parral and Santa Barbara mills are described separately to provide a basis for comparison. Although the two procedures are fundamentally alike, there are some differences in application to meet specific conditions. The Asarco mill at Parral in the State of Chihuahua is a flotation plant treating 1450 metric tons per day of complex sulphide copper-lead-zinc ores. In general, the procedure used for selective separation of the minerals into a copper, a lead, and a zinc concentrate follows the usual practice. First, a bulk copper-lead concentrate is floated and then separated into a final copper and a final lead concentrate by the sulphurous acid process. A small tonnage of high grade gravity lead concentrate is tabled from the bulk copper-lead cleaner tailing before it is reground so as to avoid undesirable over-grinding and sliming of this portion of the lead mineral. Next, a zinc concentrate is floated from the lead rougher tailing and, as described later, is separated into a final lead product and a final zinc concentrate. Finally, the zinc rougher tailing receives a strong scavenger float to remove all recoverable middling values for regrinding and return to the flotation circuits. The slime is separated from the scavenger flotation product, and only the sand portion goes to the regrind section. The minerals in the separated slime are extremely resistant to all methods of selective separation and pose one of the major problems awaiting solution. Nevertheless, the slime shows a profit when mixed with either the lead or the zinc concentrate, except when metal prices are very low, so it is accepted as a final product for lack of a more profitable method of handling it. In contrast, the minerals in the reground sands of the

Jan 1, 1953

By N. J. Gran, W. R. Opie

HYDROGEN in molten aluminum and aluminum alloys, which precipitates during cooling and solidification, is the principal cause of pin hole porosity in ingots and castings. Much attention has been given to determining the effect of temperature and pressure on the solubility of hydrogen in pure aluminum, but little data are available on hydrogen solubility in aluminum alloys. This investigation was undertaken to check results reported for pure aluminum and to show the effect of silicon and copper additions on the amount of hydrogen contained by molten alloys. Previous determinations of the solubility of hy-drogen in molten pure aluminum are plotted in fig. 1. The most reliable data appear to be those of Ransley and Neufeldl and of Baukloh and Oester-len.' The latter authors also report some results on the effect of copper and silicon additions. Up to 6 pct these elements decrease the solubility of hydrogen quite rapidly, with a definite minimum noted at 6 wt pct for both copper and for silicon, although no reason is apparent for these minima. Experimental Procedure The solubility of dry hydrogen in pure aluminum, aluminum-silicon, and aluminum-copper alloys was determined by the method of Sieverts.8 This consists of determining the volume of the gas system above the molten metal at a given temperature and pressure by using an insoluble gas. This volume is referred to as the "hot volume." The system is then evacuated and the soluble gas is introduced at the same temperature and until the same pressure is reached. It is necessary to introduce enough of the soluble gas to fill the space above the metal plus the soluble amount. The difference in the volume of soluble gas and the "hot volume" is the solubility. The accuracy of solubility measurements by the Sieverts' method is primarily depend-

Jan 1, 1951

By M. E. Wadsworth, D. R. Wadia

The rate of reaction of cuprite was measured in a series of sulphuric acid solutions, from which oxygen had been excluded, at various concentrations and temperatures. The overall reaction CuzO + H2S04 + Cu " + CuO + H20 + So4' may be explained quantitatively by two simultaneous rate reactions involving not only H+ but also the hydrolytic adsorption of H2SO4. The results indicate the importance of considering surface mass balance relationships associated with heterogeneous surface reactions. T EACHING has long been an important method for the recovery of metals from certain minerals. Many processes have assumed minor importance in modern practice but such operations as the recovery of uranium and present interest in high pressure-high temperature solution of sulphides' ' well illustrate the importance of leaching as a unit operation. Little quantitative information is available in a form sufficient to determine the mechanism of solution at the solid-aqueous solution interface for given systems. For this reason, it is important that fundamental studies of leaching processes be conducted so that parameters associated with such surface reactions may be understood and correlated. Cuprite was chosen for this study as a result of a recent investigation carried out at the University of Utah on ores of the Ray and Chino Mines Divs. of the Kennecott Copper Corp. These sulphide deposits contain sufficient oxidized minerals, such as cuprite, malachite, and azurite, so that recovery of metal values contained in the oxidized fraction is of primary interest. Of these oxides, cuprite (Cu,O) is the most interesting, since it dissolves in sulphuric acid by an oxidation reduction couple resulting in the formation of 50 pct metallic Cu and 50 pct cup-

Jan 1, 1956

By Peter I. Brooker

Elementary estimation methods in which blocks are assigned values according to a geometrical area of influence concept are investigated for a tabular deposit. This quantitative assessment of the estimation technique is made using Matheron's geostatistics which allows the variance of the error between actual block values and estimated values to be found once the semi-variogram is known. For the deposit in question it is shown that the elementary technique makes poor use of the available information. There is a 20% relative error associated with it, whereas by using the optimal technique of kriging this can be reduced to 9%. An infill drilling program, which might have been suggested on area of influence results, would reduce the estimation variance only marginally over that of the current campaign; the relative error being lowered to 6%. Thus the geostatistical analysis shows this would be an unnecessary expense. The accuracy of an earlier drilling stage is also studied and it is shown that with the information available at the earlier stage block values could have been known with a relative error of 13%. Drilling could have stopped then if this were reckoned a tolerable error level. These results are all obtained for blocks whose size is dictated by the mining engineer and is set at the current grid size. In the area of influence approach smaller blocks are considered as the grid becomes finer and a study of the accuracy of area of influence estimates and kriged estimates for differing block sizes is presented. Between drilling stages more information from which the semi- variogram is calculated becomes available. The sensitivity of the estimation to changes in the semi-variogram parameters between earlier and current drilling programs is investigated.

Jan 1, 1977

By H. E. Stauss

THE short-time tensile-strength test, while it has not attained the practical importance of the creep test at elevated temperatures, has the advantage of being rapid and is satisfactory for determining relative strengths. For platinum and its alloys, which frequently are used at high temperatures under ill-defined conditions, the short-time test provides useful data that aid in the selection of the most promising alloy for each use. Measurements have been made upon 13 alloys, using wire 0.0031 in. in diameter, the choice of alloys and of wire size being determined by the requirements of a practical problem. Later the measurements were extended to higher temperatures by the use of heavier wire, 0.010 in, in diameter. APPARATUS The use of fine wire made the necessary equipment very simple, since no effort was made to measure the elongation. A small platinum-wound horizontal furnace was used, ½ in. in internal diameter by 1 ft. long, with the wire threaded through it. The wire, clamped at one end while the other ran over a ball-bearing pulley, of a total length of 29 in., was loaded directly by running sea sand into an attached basket, making the rate of loading and not of elongation constant. The sand flowed from a funnel, under a head of 3 in., into the basket. 3 in. below the orifice, at the rate of 170 grants per minute. Pulley friction and bending resist-ance of the wire as well as the force of impact of the sand could be neg-lected, being 3 grams and 0.5 grams, respectively. Furnace temperature .was uniform within ±5° C. over a length of 3 in., although a drift with time occurred, the largest amount being 20° C. No provision was necessary for a controlled atmosphere.

Jan 1, 1939

By Fred A. Krafft

The time allotted to this paper will permit only the sketching of general principles and practice as generally employed in the industry to maintain and preserve the physical well-being of the miner and his family. Let it be emphasized on behalf of the industry that coal opera- . tors, individually and collectively, have given primary consideration to the appointment of a mine or community physician who is charged with the responsibility of caring for the sick and injured. However, it too frequently happens that with the selection or appointment of the camp doctor many operators wash their hands of further responsibility toward the health and the working efficiency of their employees. The coal industry is so organized in most of the coal-producing areas that not only is the health of the individual miner an important production problem but the collective health of the entire mining community is a fundamental operating problem. This is particularly demonstrated when epidemics of communicable diseases attack entire communities, with resultant loss of life and production and general community distress. The problem and responsibility of maintaining high health standards among miners and their families should be given as much consideration as safety, economical production and efficient distribution are given in the successful operation of coal mines. Company Policy In the inauguration or administration of a medical program for a large mining operation or for an individual mine, the first question to be solved is what the company policy is to be with respect to the following factors pertinent to a medical program: 1. On what basis will the company and the employees finance the program ? 2. Should a contract doctor or a full-time doctor on salary be employed ? 3. What measure of service is to be rendered the employee and his family in return for his monthly contribution to the medical program?

Jan 1, 1936

By T. B. Counselman

The importance of concentration of iron ores too low in grade to be smelted direct is shown by Table I, showing 1940 ship- ments from the Lake Superior district. Canadian ores are omitted. Only in Minnesota is concentrating, other than crushing and screening, prac- ticed at present. Tonnage produced by various methods of concentration is shown in Table 2. The curves in Fig.. I show the gradual increase in tonnage of concentrated ores shipped, compared with total shipments from Minnesota. Most of the concentration work is performed on the Mesabi Range. This range is about 100 miles long, and not over 3 miles wide from the line at which the formation tapers out to a feather edge on the north to the place on the south at which, some 600 ft. thick, it is overlain with slates. Classes OF Ore The Mesabi Range contains three classes of iron ore. First is the unaltered taconite, or banded iron-bearing chert. It is estimated that there are some 60 billion tons of this material, which contains, roughly, 25 to 30 per cent iron. This material is virtually untouched, since no commercially successful method has yet been found for concentrating it to a grade suitable for the blast furnace. Intensive exgerimental work is in progress, and the problem is gradually being solved. In 1922 the Mesabi Iron Co. spent several million dollars erecting a large-scale pilot plant for concentrating and sintering the magnetic taconites on the east end of the range. An important tonnage of high-gade sinter was shipped to lower lake furnaces, proving that the taconite can be concentrated to a satisfactory grade. The costs, with equipment and methods then in use, were too high for

Jan 1, 1943

By W. A. Clark

The production of sand in an oil well increases operating costs because of abnormal wear in subsurface equipment, the necessity for frequent cleanouts, and the need for a means of disposing of the sand. Moreover, removal of sand from the zone can bring about the creation of cavities from which bodies of formation, sand or shale, may slough into the hole, endangering the shutoff, impeding production or collapsing the liner. The procedure known as gravel packing is attracting attention as a means of controlling these factors and contributing to the productive life of a well. That gravel packing is now substantially beyond the preliminary stage on the Pacific Coast is reflected in the 191,000 bbl. of oil produced monthly by the 66 gravel-packed wells in 11 different producing sectors. Reasons fob Gravel Packing Gravel packing, if properly carried out, can be expected to provide the following benefits: 1. Prevent the movement of sand and thus eliminate sand production and sand fills, and prevent the formation of cavities. 2. Provide a practical, relatively inexpensive, large-diameter hole, which will provide well-known theoretical advantages. 3. Support the walls of the hole by completely filling the space between the liner and the formation, regardless of its irregularities, and afford a support for liners. 4. Provide for more efficient pumping operations in wells by: (a) possibly utilizing the gravel as a gas trap in pumping gaseous fluids, (b) allowing deep submergence of the pump into the oil zone. In a conventional well—that is, where the liner is set in an open hole-. even though perforation sizes are chosen according to known rules based on analysis of sand grains from samples from the zone, there is likely to be some production of sand. This may be due to the miscalculation of

Jan 1, 1940

By James Norman, Oliver C. Ralston

DIATOMACEOUS earth occurs in deposits widely distributed throughout the nation. The chief producing areas are in the Western States, where many high-grade deposits are known. Eastern deposits of diatomite are unsatisfactory for many purposes either because of impurity or because of the extremely fine particle size. Eastern users of diatomite, on the whole, must pay for transportation of the material from the west coast. The freight rate is necessarily high because of the great bulk of the diatomite. A satisfactory process of purifying the diatomaceous earths of Maryland and Virginia, which are unsuited for wide use only because of impurities, should be of value to eastern users. In the past, benefication of diatomite by wet processes has been limited to classification or sedimentation for the removal of sand from diatoms. Calcination with salt is used to produce a white diatomite when iron is present in the impurities, and small amounts of clay are rendered inactive in the process. No treatment has been developed whereby a large proportion of clay can be removed from a low-grade diatomaceous earth to give a diatomite of very high purity. In August 1937 the Federal Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with Dr. R. C. Williams, of Baltimore, undertook the problem of purifying low-grade Maryland diatomite by Froth flotation. Work was done at the Eastern Experiment Station, College Park. Unless otherwise stated, the crude diatomite used was from the Patuxent River deposits near Dunkirk. This material, consisting of roughly one-third each or clay, quartz sand and diatoms, was representative of the usual low-grade marine diatomite found in the Coastal Plain Miocene beds of Maryland and Virginia and sporadically in other Atlantic coast states. As received, it contained 50 to 60 per cent moisture and probably had been wet since its formation.

Jan 1, 1942

By J. S. Johnson, W. C. McCulloch

ALL phases of plant operation must be synchronized so that the number of interruptions in the flow of material may be reduced to a minimum. In the majority of plants operating under a labor agreement, time lost during the operating shift cannot be made up with overtime. With the work week restricted to 35 hr., the ratio of productive time to total time justifies extra effort in keeping the plant operating at capacity during the productive shift. This does not apply when central plants with adequate storage are operated by multiple shifts. In such installations the problems become similar to those of any factory or mill where added units parallel circuits, or excess capacity serve to maintain the average production during intervals of maintenance shutdown. These plants, by special agreement, may run continuously, barring mechanical interruptions. The control of plant operation is in those procedures that are practiced to obtain from the run-of-mine product a high recovery of clean coal products to meet adopted trade standards and consumer specifications at the lowest possible cost. Correlation of all factors for continuous operation requires more than mechanical perfection in the plant. The run-of-mine coal must be delivered to the preparation plant without delays and the clean coal and refuse products taken away. Power supply and water requirements must be adequate. Signal systems must be established for emergency stops and to facilitate resumption of coal flow. ORGANIZATION Probably the most important item for successful operation of a preparation plant is a capable organization interconnected with the mine organization. A typical organization chart for companies operating in the Pennsylvania anthracite region is shown in Fig. 1. The breaker foreman is in direct contact with the plant preparation operation and reports to the outside foreman, who, in turn, reports to

Jan 1, 1943

By C. N. Schuette

THE producers of this liquid metal call it quicksilver, while the consumer generally refers to it as mercury. It is one of he seven metals that were known to the ancients. These seven were gold, silver, iron, copper, quicksilver, lead, and tin. Other metals were sometimes accidentally alloyed with some of these, but it was not until 1490 that antimony, for example, was discovered and identified as a separate metal. It is not surprising that quicksilver should have been known in ancient or even in prehistoric times, as globules of the native metal often occur in the outcrops of the ore. Furthermore, the first man to build a fire on an outcropping of quicksilver ore would probably have found globules of quicksilver in the cold ashes of his fire after it burned out. The inability to pick up the globules with the fingers would excite interest and an attempt to gather it in shells or gourds to be exhibited and traded. The ore of quicksilver is the red sulfide, cinnabar, which has been mined and used as the pigment vermilion since before the beginning of written history. In recorded history, quicksilver is first mentioned in documents by Aristotle, 384-322 B.C. Theophrastus, in 315 B.C., credited the Athenian, Callias, with the invention of methods to beneficiate cinnabar in 415 B.C. In China also there are records antedating Christ which mention both vermilion paint and the fluid metal. From these early records, it seems certain that not only was cinnabar used as a pigment in those days but also that the metal was reduced from the ore and was used for amalgamation, for gilding, and for medicinal purposes. Quicksilver mining and metal-

Jan 1, 1953

By P. R. Sheorey

I read this interesting paper on pillar strength in some detail because this is also my area of interest. It has long been the desire of mining rock mechanicians to predict pillar strength from laboratory compression tests. Considerable literature is available on compression strength of rocks and coal but many of these experiments were conducted not for pillar design but for rock behavior. I have a few comments on the author's approach to pillar design, especially equation (33). Two important factors, which the author seems to have excluded, can be added to the right side of equation (2): time-dependence of strength and the influence of mine environment on strength (moisture and weathering.) The author has taken considerable pains to analyze a large amount of testing data in [Table 1], yielding the various exponents ci of equation (2) (or the subsequent equations derived from it.) He has, however, not shown by means of a worked out example how these values of [Table 1] could be applied to a practical pillar design situation. It would have been interesting to compare predicted pillar size using equation (33) with an actual case. Alternatively, equation (33) could have been used to explain the failure of a pillar, if such a case history were available. Consider we have a large number of case histories of stable and collapsed pillars in a seam and we conduct a large number of tests in a laboratory press. The exponents [ci] can then be determined for actual pillars as well as for test specimens. Thus, equation (2) will read [ ] Since laboratory testing conditions (e.g., between steel platens) are different from the conditions on pillars, the exponents [ci] in

Jan 1, 1983

By Julianne H. Glarmaty, Peter J. Conroy

INTRODUCTION In 1970 the percentage of underground coal extraction by longwall mining methods in the U.S. was 2.1 percent. This figure rose to 4.4 percent in 1976 and is expected to rise to 12 percent by the year 1985. This figure represents 46.0 million tons (51.0 million st) of annual production (Kuti, 1978). In addition, OSM regulations are placing emphasis on subsidence prediction. Section 784.20 of the Office of Surface Mining regulations for underground mining permit applications requires the sutauission of a subsidence control plan which may include monitoring. Because of its nature, longwall mining does not have flexibility in leaving pillars under structures as does room and pillar. Mining in some areas, particularly in the Eastern Coal Field, is approaching more developed areas; therefore, a greater number of structures are expected to be undermined in the near future. Subsidence engineering is becoming an important aspect of mine planning, and should be directed at predicting potential structural damage. The question operators are increasingly faced with is "what will be the subsidence effects for a specific structure at a specific location in respect to a longwall panel?" The most significant variable in assessing the subsidence effect on structures is not vertical subsidence. The variables of strain and tilt are responsible for more structural damage than is the vertical movement. Table I presents threshold values of strain for various structures (Geddes 6 Cooper, 1962). Based on National Coal Board experience, horizontal strain is approximately inversely proportional to the radius of curvature of a circular portion of a subsidence profile; therefore, the radius may be useful in estimating the magnitude of strain caused by subsidence (Hoebs, 1982). The radius of curvature can be determined by the following equation:

Jan 1, 1982

By T. B. Counselman

The importance of concentration of iron ores too low in grade to be smelted direct is shown by Table I, showing 1940 ship- ments from the Lake Superior district. Canadian ores are omitted. Only in Minnesota is concentrating, other than crushing and screening, prac- ticed at present. Tonnage produced by various methods of concentration is shown in Table 2. The curves in Fig.. I show the gradual increase in tonnage of concentrated ores shipped, compared with total shipments from Minnesota. Most of the concentration work is performed on the Mesabi Range. This range is about 100 miles long, and not over 3 miles wide from the line at which the formation tapers out to a feather edge on the north to the place on the south at which, some 600 ft. thick, it is overlain with slates. Classes OF Ore The Mesabi Range contains three classes of iron ore. First is the unaltered taconite, or banded iron-bearing chert. It is estimated that there are some 60 billion tons of this material, which contains, roughly, 25 to 30 per cent iron. This material is virtually untouched, since no commercially successful method has yet been found for concentrating it to a grade suitable for the blast furnace. Intensive exgerimental work is in progress, and the problem is gradually being solved. In 1922 the Mesabi Iron Co. spent several million dollars erecting a large-scale pilot plant for concentrating and sintering the magnetic taconites on the east end of the range. An important tonnage of high-gade sinter was shipped to lower lake furnaces, proving that the taconite can be concentrated to a satisfactory grade. The costs, with equipment and methods then in use, were too high for

Jan 1, 1943

By M. B. Yung

Location THE Fu Chuan district lies near the eastern boundary of Kwang Si province in southern China and is connected with the coast by the West river and its branches. The Journey The first part of the journey from the coast is made very comfortably in one of the West river steamers which runs to Wuchow, the great distributing center for tile whole province. From here there are two ways of reaching the Fu Chuan district. One is to drop clown the West river for 15 miles and ascend the Yuen river for 120 miles. The other is to ascend the Fu river, which joins the West river at Wuchow, and at Ping Lok tike chairs across country. Of the two the former is the more direct and shorter but for other reasons I chose the latter. At Wuchow one must provide his own means of transportation, which may be a native boat anywhere up to 40 ft. in length, but not over 18-in. draft. The method of working these river boats against the swift current which in many places develops into rapids is interesting and worthy of note. Tracking along the bank with the tow line attached to the mast head is the most common procedure, but poling, sculling, sailing and winding up the rapids by a windlass are used as the case may require. The boatmen are the hardiest set of fellows I have ever seen often putting in 15 hr. of the most exhausting labor. The average clay's run against the current is 15 miles. On this trip one should have his own food, bedding and servants, and a guard of 10, or more soldiers is almost a necessity as certain parts of the river are infested with pirates.

Jan 9, 1914